Johnson and company gave British sport its great-est moment for 37 years by defeating holders and host nation Australia after a final of unrelenting, nerve-tingling drama.

Ultimately, fly-half super-star Jonny Wilkinson secured rugby union's golden prize with a drop goal 20 seconds from the end of extra time. His right-footed st rike wi l l be replayed over and over again, such was its spell-binding significance for an England team that has now joined the sporting gods.

Not since England's soccer heroes beat Germany 4-2 in the 1966 World Cup final - also after extra-time -had the country known anything like it.

England could and should have been home and dry before Wilkinson's wonderful moment.

But they let slip a 14-5 interval lead as Wallabies centre Elton Flatley landed a last minute penalty equaliser.

From 14-14, Flatley did it again with less than four minutes of the additional 20 left, yet neither Wilkinson nor England were to be denied.

"We all said to ourselves be f ore th e game that we had to enjoy it, take it all in and remember it - bec au se you probably won't be back," recalled 33-year-old Leicester star Johnson.

"It hasn't really sunk in. It was a home game for Australia, albeit a World Cup final, and they don't lose a lot of games in Sydney. So, for us to have parity in the stadium in terms of colours and fans was unbelievable. We weren't alone. We had a huge amount of support."

Johnson, one of the greatest players in rugby history, was quickly brought down to earth barely seven hours after lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy .

"One similarity between Leicester and Sydney is that at five o'clock in the morning you couldn't get a cab, and it was pouring with rain!" he added.

"So I had to walk home from where we were to my wife's hotel. It took me about an hour." Johnson, the only man to captain two separate Lions tours, has now overseen World Cup glory and Six Nations Grand Slam success in the space of eight months.

He has nothing else to achieve in the game, and there is speculation in some quarters that he might step down from Test rugby sooner rather than later.

"You don't make those decisions now. I said to myself, win or lose, you don't make that decision now; you just take your time when you get home," he added.

"I don't play for those reasons and say I've won a World Cup, I've done it all, I've won a Grand Slam. I play to enjoy it.

"I will make that decision, however long it takes, before England play again."

As for comparisons with '66, he said: "People love to drag out 1966, and those guys are the legends that they are.

"But we've done our thing, and it's completely different. If we are mentioned in the same breath as them then that's fantastic for us."